Resumen de Older women workers and the European Union’s employment goals: Bringing gender into the debate

Sally Bould, Sara Falcao Casaca

• This paper explores the employment figures for older women, aged 55-64 in the EU15. Current policies on «active aging» and the gender neutral approach to pension reform does not take into account the unpaid work of caregiving. Where older women are typically employed during these later years in the Nordic countries, there are a range of supports to assist them with caring for family members. In contexts where the state provision of eldercare facilities is weak and caring activities are mainly performed by women, if the adult daughters are now expected to work, the questions to be raised are: who will care for the very old parents? If women have to step out of the labor market for caring reasons, isn’t their future economic situation at risk?